


Con Te Partiro (Time To Say Goodbye)

by pixieferry



Category: Storyscape, Storyscape Titanic
Genre: Edwardian Period, F/M, RMS Titanic, Spoilers, Titanic References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-26 22:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21381379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixieferry/pseuds/pixieferry
Summary: Moments from Matteo Vasari's lifePS if you're searching for more storyscape fics, pls seek out @storyscapefanficarchive on Tumblr. It's a listing for SS fics on Tumblr only since the search engine is not as good as Ao3. Don't forget to give those writers a heart if you like it!
Relationships: Matteo Vasari/Adele Carrem, Matteo Vasari/main character
Comments: 12
Kudos: 27





	Con Te Partiro (Time To Say Goodbye)

He is seven. Running into a shop to find his grandfather's silver snuffbox. His little hand reaches for it when a man grabs him roughly by the collar. His protests go unheard as they box his ears. 

_ Thief _.

He is 17. He does well in school; he has a head for figures and is a star on the football team. They go to a tavern to celebrate a victory in a more affluent part of town. 

The owner takes one look at him.

"We don't serve your kind."

"I'm sorry, Matt, could you wait outside?" The captain whispers. _ Don't cause a scene. _

Foolish boy. You may be good enough to fight _ with _ them, to fight _ for _ them but they will never fight _ for you _.

He is 21. Young and hungry and eager to make his fortune. Tomorrow, he sails on ships across seas to a new world. A new start.

The watch on his hand ticks. For luck, his grandfather said a year ago. His breath is feeble, shaking with the rattle of death as he presses it into Matteo’s palm. 

_ "Con te partiro, Teo _."

_ Io lo so _, grandfather.

But the new is much the same. He finds the doors close before he knocks. He thinks of his mother, her words ringing in his ears. 

"Be smart. There's no use fighting, Teo. You will always have to work twice as hard only to get half of what you deserve."

_ I deserve better _, he bites back the bitter retort, but the anger festers and hardens.

He is 23. The taste of salt and copper fill his mouth as they beat him. Blood trickles down his chin, falls on the shirt he had so carefully pressed. Drip, drip, drop into the dank gutter at some alleyway. 

He has a head for figures. They don't like it when they lose their money, especially to a man his color. 

"He's with me." The raining blows cease. The speaker comes closer. He reeks of leather, expensive aftershave and scotch --_money _ . The men mutter a quick apology -- though not to him -- and give _ Matteo's _ winnings to the gent.

"Thought you could use a hand," his rescuer chuckles as he pulls Matteo up. 

_ Why? _

"Good help is hard to find." They shake hands and the lie told by the gutter eventually comes true. Matteo finds his new employer distasteful but the money is good. And, finally, he has a foot in the door. 

He is 26. Sea-salt stings his lips and tongue.

Drip, drip, drop. The pain on his side, a red stain on white, comes in waves. He grits his teeth, every jostle makes it burn, but he fights through the throng. Focus on getting on the damn boat first, whine later.

His teeth rattle in his skull. The wind is cold on his cheek, but no colder than the steward's eyes on his face - no, the color of his skin.

"Not you."

_ We don't serve your kind._

There was space for a dozen men but, to those glacial eyes, Matteo is not one. The steward sneers and roughly shoves Matteo away after he protests as much. "And a dozen more men there will be. But none will be men like you."

The hand that held his, that offered him comfort earlier, flew to the steward's chest. "You bigot!"

A futile gesture, but something inside alights and thaws his edges. _ Of course _ , he almost laughs. _ She _ would _ fight for him _. 

And she might die doing so.

_ Don't cause a scene _.

"No. Get on the boat, Adele."

He clutches his grandfather's watch._ For luck _, he thinks before he quietly slips it into her jacket.

_ Con te partiro _.

"He's with me." The speaker says carelessly, but there is no softness in his determination as he fights and bargains with the steward; there is only remorse when he looks at Matteo. “Good help is hard to find.”

The boat descends. The stars are on fire but the heavens are so far away, their light buried in the lapping shadows. His blood mingles into the brine, salt in salt, a drop in an ocean of time.

And the world goes black -- the lights are snuffed and _ Autumn's _song is silenced. The drum beating in his chest drowns out the screams.

_ It's time to say goodbye._

* * *

He is 30. A little girl laughs as he bounces her on his knee. 

She has his hazel eyes and her mother's spirit. 

She asks for the story about the boy who sailed on ships across seas to places she has never seen.

"He is seven…" he says, until her eyes flutter shut.

_ It's time to say goodnight _ , _ luna mia. _

He tucks her into bed before retiring to his, alone. He doesn’t sleep yet though he dreams; of the ship that exists no longer, and all he bade goodbye to. He waits until the door bursts open and his sun sweeps in -- Adele, radiant and golden. 

She pulls him to her orbit, embracing him with the sweet scent of summer. Her kiss warms him from the outside in and he never wants to let go. 

She presses something cool into the palm of his hand. It ticks gently.

"We won, Teo."

-

Little notes.

  * I was inspired by a song, Andrea Bocelli's _Con Te Partiro_. The English version is called _Time To Say Goodbye_, so I was going to make this angsty. But it turns out the original Italian version, _con te partiro_ means "with you I will leave/ I will leave with you" and @pixelburied asked for fluff. I sprinkled bits and pieces of the song throughout the fic, though some are translated. See the translation here : <https://lyricstranslate.com/en/Con-te-partiro-duet-Sarah-Brightman-Time-say-goodbye.html>
  * _Autumn's_ song - the rumoured last song played by musicians on the Titanic is _Autumn_.
  * "We won." - my Adele is still fighting the good fight. The final time jump is August 26 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, a right known as women’s suffrage was finally adopted.

Some translation:

Con te partiro - “I’ll leave with you.”

Io lo so - I know.

mia luna - my moon.


End file.
